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Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola from the Union of Greens and Farmers intentionally reports false information and misleads society by claiming that the decision regarding establishment of minimal social fees was the responsibility of the previous governments, says Unity chairman Andris Piebalgs.

«The new Estonian government will continue the previous government’s priorities in foreign and security policy, strengthening cooperation between the European Union and NATO,» – said the new Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas during his meeting with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.

Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kadri Simson and Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT Urve Palo stated on December 9 that they recall all members of parliament, who also work in state company supervisory boards.

H5N8 virus – a highly pathogenic form of avian influenza – continues spreading in Europe. Although so far it has been found in wild waterfowl in Sweden and Finland, there is currently no reason for concern in Latvia, says Food and Veterinary Service.

Estonia’s ruling Centre Party «does not dare» stepping out of its co-operation protocol with United Russia, the party represented by Russia’s current political elite, stated deputy chairperson of the centrists and Estonian Education and Research Minister Mailis Reps on December 8.

«The main message received from U.S. senators is that Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have no reasons to worry about non-compliance with NATO obligations from their allies,» – notes Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee’s chairman Ojars Eriks Kalnins.

Maximum air temperature will remain within +4° C… +7° C in Latvia on Friday, 9 December. Rain is expected in many parts of Latvia. Nevertheless, much colder masses of air will flow into Latvia on the night to Saturday.

The European Central Bank has on December 8 stated that it would continue its quantitative easing programme no less than until December 2017 and would buy bonds for a smaller sum - 20 billion euros a month.

Several Lithuanian universities and colleges offer identical or similar study programmes, but the graduates end up being on different rungs of the ladder after the graduation, career opportunities-wise and in terms of the wage.

The austerity policy realized in Baltics during the crisis has resulted in some of the lowest budget deficit and debt levels in the European Union. However, Baltics are part of the six EU member states, which includes Luxembourg, Denmark and Slovakia, that are able to fulfil all Maastricht criteria.

All economies of the Baltic Sea region – including Russia, where recession ended this year – are growing. This growth, however, is modest. Brexit and outcome of elections in USA show that populism is gradually becoming a normal occurrence in the world, according to Swedbank’s latest Baltic Sea report.

An unusual event has become one of Finland’s top media stories on December 7 – national postal service Posti is blamed for «losing» the latest release of social-democratic weekly Demokraatti in its entirety.

Over the past year, a small consumer price increase has been registered in Estonia – from November 2015 to November 2016 the country’s consumer price index has risen by a percent. Statisticians evaluate that the key factors behind it have been more expensive fuel, alcohol and tobacco.

Because of unwillingness to act, the state plans to cancel the introduction of mandatory social fees and increase micro-enterprise tax from 9% to 15%, states political party For Latvia’s Development. In addition, because of the irresponsible behaviour and lack of proper organization of important tasks, the party expresses distrust to Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola, asking her to step down.

On Thursday, 8 December, the Saeima will decide on amendments to the National Security Law aimed at prohibiting Latvian citizens and non-citizens from serving in foreign army, police and security institutions. Changes are necessary to reduce the possible security risks related to military service in third countries.

In the first three quarters of 2016, Latvian enterprises were provided with bank loans for a total amount of 1.4 billion euros, which is 40% more when compared with the first nine months of 2015, according to estimates from the Latvian Association of Commercial Banks and Finance and Capital Market Commission.

The European Union over the recent years transferred billions of euros to Ukraine, for the most part as direct budget support and yet EU’s European Court of Auditors stated on December 6 it was unable to say how the money was spent.

Continuing last year’s autumn trend, the volume of cargoes carried by Latvijas dzelzceļš had increased in November. The volume of cargoes transported by rail reached 4.46 million tons or 7.6% more in comparison with November 2015.